Ashtabula, OH

[liflod]

If I put some "flat tracks" on the Max, it would be an awful lot of fun sliding through the corners

Brings back memories of my old trike with flat tracks. You could do donuts on black top with them !

[hydromike]

George, the easiest way on your machine is to put a steel belly band on it and start welding 1 1/4" tubing to it until you run out of rod. What do you want it to look like?

I like the swept look that the McKay has with its' rear bars, combined with what the 503 R looks like. Both of these methods let you take advantage of the main body seam, which is one of the strongest points on the body. It's difficult to do a real good job of mounting to the frame (with lots of welding and reinforcement) without taking the frame out of the machine. The D/stock will probably take a greater beating than the 503, simply because it's a tighter main hoop, and because it's welded to the bejesus on the frame. I get stupid behind the sticks, so I tried not to skimp too much.



Now that I look at it, I could have done a bit more. I figure a combination of McKay/D-stock/ and 503R stylings would look primo on your chief. Of course, if you want to take the frame out, it'd be easy to do it that way, too. Check out Jeff's racer, too. That's a very clean
design. He had his frame out when we bent that up. Don't take this the wrong way but it's nicer to build cages for shorter people because the outcome looks a lot sleeker when you combine a low cage with a nice low bucket seat. I designed the D/stock cage pretty high (in my opinion) and I still bonk my head all the time. It's tough to fold this 6 foot plus frame into a little compartment. I think JoeH has at least an inch on me, and he has to do a similar thing getting into his.

For steel belly bands, I use 1 1/4" mild steel angle (1/8" thick) and get 1 1/4" tubing (or welded seam pipe, which is lots cheaper, but works fine for cages).

As I've blabbered in other posts, building cages is tons and tons of fun, but time consuming. I often drink about an entire pot of coffee before I make the first bend. Bending nice hoops without creases is tough with a cheapo bender.

~m

[George]

Hey Mike,

I have a Thunder Chief frame just sitting around. I'd be perfectly happy dropping it off with you. Heck, it can't be more than 3 hours drive from where the frame is to you. You could keep it as long as you need. Name your price.

[whipper-ag]

Hey Mike
I'll drive 2000 miles to Drive your car like a Rental. You guys should seriously see if you could get even just an exhibition race. You would have more fun than you can even imagine. Help us Obi-wan Bud Fischer. You're our only hope.

[jpswift1]

Mike bends cages very well. Here is mine before it was dropped back into the body. I am very excited to see what my racer will do, especially since it weighs under 400lbs since its a first generation machine with a Baker Hill tranny. Also, as Mike mentioned it is nice to have a low center of gravity. I stand at 5'10" and the cage was able to be built pretty low fortunately. The first generation machines are a good bit narrower than the 71+ Attex machines and Im happy to have the center of gravity as low as I can because I dont know how stable this thing will be as you're approaching 50mph in this little plastic bathtub.

And now I have a super nice lower body without all that black spray paint and cracks for my racer from Don K.

Thanks Mike and Don!

[techfx]

My dad has this machine sitting at his house (greensburg, PA) torn apart but, some kind of event should get him to speed things up and get it back together.

[jpswift1]

VERY NICE! What kind of speeds did those springers hit on the track? What kind of motor were they powered by?

[techfx]

I know my uncles/dad's springer has a Sachs. I've heard my dad claim 80mph but, not sure how serious he was. Whipper, If you drive 2000 miles to race, I may have to buy a spot on your trailer - along w/ your services for getting my machine in shape..... I am rather limited out here w/ no welding experience, power tools and a rented storage space (I've never even changed an axle - not that I couldn't do it ).

[whipper-ag]

O.K. Guys. Here's the scoop. I spoke w/ Bud Fischer Jr yesterday. The track in Ashtabula is still available for racing. They stopped racing 6 wheelers, because people stopped showing up to race. Bud Jr was around 17 years old & he told me he remembers standing next to the ramps when I jumped the cars like it was yesterday. He said for the past 20 years the big Scrambler trailer has been parked w/ all the Scramblers still locked away in it. The Fischers still own the rights to the NATVA name & can start it up again @ anytime, if there was some interest. The track is pretty much the same as it was. They put some banks in some turns, but that's pretty much it. They host some National quad races. I talked to him about maybe a Nostalgia race for 6 wheelers. He seemed receptive to the idea. By planning in advance, it could be quite a Blast from the Past & give you young guys a chance to experience it instead of wondering what it was like. Maybe Administrator Mike could post an interest sign up list. Even if it's just a once a year event, I'm sure they would want to know how many people are really serious about it. It would take more that 10 people. I told him how many of you guys showed up @ the Ledges. He was surprised. He didn't know that so many of you have been doing that each year. They also host Quad races @ the Ledges and there's a possibility that that track could be available, also. He asked who organized the Ledges event, but I wasn't sure. So, do I shop for a giant Toy Hauler or not? It's up to all of you. According to Bud Jr, Bud Sr is 82 & still hangs out @ the track almost every chance he gets. So, we have a year to show them there's still an interest by your response. Even Bud Jr said he would drag his old Springer out of the trailer & get it ready. I guess he misses it , too.Here's one more look @ the track.

[jpswift1]

Whipper, I'm soooooooooo there! Count me in for sure. Thanks for taking the time to help arrange this.